Manila: The Philippines' Alexandra Eala marched to the Philippine Women's Open quarterfinals after beating Japanese Himeno Sakatsume, 6-4, 6-0, at Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Wednesday night. Eala, seeded No. 2 in the country's first-ever WTA (Women's Tennis Association) 125 event, will face fifth seed Camila Osorio of Colombia, who overcame Japanese Mai Hontama, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
According to Philippines News Agency, Eala expressed joy over her victory, highlighting the motivation she draws from the Filipino crowd. Meanwhile, Russian Tatiana Prozorova ousted top seed German Tatjana Maria, 7-6 (2), 6-4, to advance against Belgian Sofia Costoulas, who defeated Chinese Ma Yexin, 6-2, 6-4.
Third seed Solana Sierra of Argentina and fourth seed Donna Vekic of Croatia also secured spots in the next round. Sierra outplayed Yulia Starodubtseva of Ukraine, 6-4, 6-3, and will face Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand, who defeated Polina Kudermetova of Uzbekistan, 6-4, 6-4. Vekic triumphed over Mariia Tkacheva, 6-1, 6-2, setting up a quarterfinal showdown with Zhu Lin of China, who won against Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
In doubles, American top seeds Quinn Gleason and Sabrina Santamaria advanced to the semifinals after a tough match against Japanese Hiroko Kuwata and Chinese Qiu Yu Ye, 6-4, 7-5. They will face Li Yu-yun Li of Chinese Taipei and Sara Saito of Japan, who ousted fourth seeds Nicola Fossa Huergo of Argentina and Darja Semenista of Latvia, 7-5, 1-6, 12-10.
Second seeds Eudice Chong of Hong Kong and Liang En-shuo of Chinese Taipei also moved to the semis, defeating Mana Ayukawa and Kanako Morisaki of Japan, 6-4, 6-2.
